Skip to content Episode 12 | Nehemiah: Follow God's Word as Final Authority Aug 24 · 51 min ...more
Episode 12 | Nehemiah: Follow God's Word as Final Authority
August 24, 2026 · 51 min
Series Nehemiah August 24, 2026 · 51 min · Nehemiah
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The Power of Vows to God 0:00 Now I'm gonna pick up for a moment right in the book of Nehemiah because it goes along with the thread of what I just shared with you along with where we wanna go because pastor Brent's been teaching on the book and the0:11 life of Nehemiah. And as he's been teaching about that, he's been showing you that their circumstances are like the world we live in. And and how do we get this together? Nehemiah, you remember, was this. He was the cup0:22 bearer to the king, the king of Persia. And so Nehemiah's job was to eat and taste the the drink before the king got it because that was the way they would assassinate some kings. So they would0:34 watch Nehemiah, he would eat, and then if he didn't fall over and die, then the king knew it was safe. They had a trusted responsibility. You had to trust that guy. He was the right hand man. Nehemiah 1 day gets a burden0:45 to go back to Jerusalem because the people are in devastation and despair. So he wants to go back to his homeland and help them to rebuild their walls. It'd be like if you heard that the city you were raised in had been0:56 devastated. And you think, what can I do to help the people that I have memories with? And so Nehemiah has a burden. For 4 months, Nehemiah is praying night and day. God, what can I do?1:08 And he winds up knowing I'm going to leave a high position to go to a place there where I don't know if it'll turn out right or not, but I'm going to walk by faith because I'm driven by love. And so Nehemiah prays. And1:19 finally, 4 months later, he goes to the king and he asked him for permission. Can I go back and help my people? God turned his heart. You remember that verse? I love the quote from Proverbs, which says, the heart of the1:30 king is in the hand of the Lord. He turns it any way he wills. I use that to keep from getting discouraged, and I want you to use that. There's gonna be times in your life you're gonna say, well, how do I how do1:42 I achieve what God's put in my heart and and and the powers that be above me don't give me permission? And you need to remember that verse. The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. He turns it any way he wills.1:53 God can even make somebody who planned to go 1 way change their mind when they don't even know how. So you've gotta trust that God behind all of that is still at work. Now what takes place is the king gives him2:04 permission. He goes back and he gathers the people, assesses the damage. And then in 52 days, which was miraculous, again, that's God's hand, they built those walls around the2:15 city. Now when they built the walls, a couple of things took place. 1 is they were physically now in a better position because their walls were up, so they were safe.2:27 They were socially more connected because they work together. You know this, when you work with people, when you work when you serve in a church, you get closer to people that perhaps you never got close to. In fact, I2:39 don't say this to motivate you to serve, but I've seen probably 10 marriages come together where a lady is dying to meet a man and a man wants to meet a lady and they wind up serving in the church and they're2:51 standing out here giving out bulletins and all that stuff, and they start building a relationship before you know to get married. And so if you're single today, I know what you're thinking. Where can I serve? But but3:02 here's the deal. Socially, they came connected. So it was beautiful. Physically, they had the wall. Socially, now they're all friends. And then nationally, they go back and say, we've gotta abide now by3:13 the laws of Moses. And so they they began to put the the order and the structure around their nation. Now they needed to do that. They wanted to do that. They had been slaves over in Babylon.3:25 And so, and been devastated by by what has happened. So the people that were left had nothing. So there was a real rebuilding, what we would call a revival. Everybody came to life3:37 again. But there's 1 thing missing. While nationally and socially and physically things were together, spiritually, they needed to get on track so they didn't get back to the position they were3:49 before. It's very easy spiritually. COVID can bring this out. This COVID 19 thing has caused people to either get better or to fall from God. There've been some people that needed to be4:01 in church or needed to be around Christians and they weren't, and I've seen people getting off track spiritually that I never would have thought would have gotten off track. And I'm saying what went wrong and when did4:13 that happen? And it happened because somewhere they got out of the spiritual disciplines. They got away from the spiritual habits and they began to do all the other things, but because of that, they're now more empty4:25 than they were before. That's why it's good to come together, isn't it? We need this. Now here's what happens. Nehemiah decides it's time to shore us up spiritually so we don't go back to the life we once4:36 had in slavery and bondage and loss of freedom. And so the whole 10th chapter of Nehemiah is about coming together spiritually and about making a promise to God. Let me ask you a question.4:48 Have you ever made a promise to God? You ever vowed to God, you know, if you do this, I'll do this. I have. I do it all the time. God, if you'll deliver me from this, I promise you I will never make that mistake5:00 again. I've done that. And and to be honest with you, there are times I've said, Lord, I will make other mistakes, but if you'll get me out of this 1, I can promise you here and now, I won't make that 1 again. This 15:11 is so painful. I promise you, I will learn from that. It's okay to make promises to God. It is fine to make vows to God. There's nothing wrong with that. There's something wrong if we don't keep5:23 it. There's something wrong if we don't mean it. And so Nehemiah is gonna say, I want you to come together and let's lay out 4 precious vows that will keep you on track so your5:35 life can be fruitful. Now when he does this, this is what's gonna take place. He he basically says in chapter 9 verse 38, because it's gonna move into chapter 10. In your bible, by the way, if you're new, let me help5:46 you. There were never numbers like this in the bible. Chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, verses 1, 2, 3, 4. It was really like 1 continuous book. Men added the numbers5:58 in order to make it easier to follow and to refer to and to go back to. But but it was 1 continuous story. And so chapter 9 leads right into chapter 10. And in chapter 9, here's what he says. Nehemiah says,6:10 and because of all this, that is because God's delivered us, because we've been through so much, because we're now we have the walls up, because now we're connected, because of all this, we make a6:21 covenant. And, and a covenant, by the way, is totally different than a contract. A contract says, if you decide to break it, it's broken. A covenant says, I'm in this whether you break it or not.6:33 That's what marriage is. It's saying, I'm gonna love you for better or for worse. I'm gonna love you for richer or poor. I'm gonna love you in sickness and in health. I'm gonna be here even if something happens6:45 in our situation that changes it. That's what a covenant is. Well, Nehemiah says that because of all this, we make a covenant to God. And he says, and we write it. That is we wanna put it down so we never have to wonder,6:57 did did we say this? Did we agree to that? And then he said our princess, our Levites, our priest will seal it. All the people couldn't gather at that time because it was such a large group. So they got all the leaders7:08 together. And when you look through the scripture, basically, you'll find that that, verses 1 to 8 is, is the priest. They openly, publicly walk forward and sign it. It's kinda like we've done7:19 before in in January sometimes with giving. We've had people come forward and they'll come up and they will basically say, I wanna commit my life to God or I wanna commit my finance to God or whatever they're doing. And7:30 that's really what they were doing. They said, we want you to come forward and openly, publicly declare that you're gonna live for God. Step out from the crowd. So verses 1 to 8, the priests do it. Verses 9 to verse 13,7:42 the Levites do it. Verse 14 to 27, then the political leaders all get together and they do it. Now when we talk about making a covenant, we have to ask ourselves a couple of questions. And 1 of them is this that,7:54 there's some laws about making vows and not keeping them. Numbers 30 verse 2 says this, when a man makes a vow to the Lord, takes an oath or pledge to obligate himself, he must not break his word, but8:06 must do everything he has said. Ecclesiastes 5 4 says, when you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools fulfill your vow. He said,8:18 when we make a vow to God, keep our word. By the way, that it ought to get so sensitive that that we decide before we say something, we are literally going to do it.8:30 My wife went through this a couple years ago. She said, Bill, I'm I'm really convicted about some promises I've made that I just haven't kept. And I said, what are they? She said, I would meet somebody and I'd say, well,8:41 let's get together. You know, they'd say, let's do lunch sometime. Sure we will. And she said, you know, I said we will, but it's been put off. And so she wrote a list of about 12 people that she said over the last 28:52 years, we've just said, yeah, we'll get together. We've made promises or I'll call you. And she said, I'm gonna do all of that this month. I'm never gonna have that on my conscience again. She said, man, I'm also gonnaVow 1: Follow God's Word 9:02 be real cautious before I promise to obligate myself again. And and so she did that. And I at the end of it, I remember looking at and listening to the piece of that. Well, among people, that's really it's good to9:14 fulfill our vows and keep our word. But among God, I mean, toward God, how much more? Now the the the deal is when we look at the vows, Jesus said this in Matthew 5 33. He warned about9:26 empty vows. He warned about making a vow that you don't intend to keep. You know, God, if you'll deliver me, but in our heart, we really mean I I don't really plan on doing it. And people do it by nature. You know,9:36 that's just natural. In Exodus 24, the people of Israel cried out to God because he delivered them from pharaoh, and they said, we promise we'll do everything God9:48 said. And then a few weeks later, they're building a golden calf and worshiping it and had forgot all about God. Just a few weeks later. You remember that in in Mark 14 29, Peter did10:00 this. Peter said, I will never deny you, Lord. You know, Jesus said, tonight, every 1 of you deny me. Peter said, not me. Uh-uh. I'll never deny you. Few hours later, a little10:12 12 year old girl said, are you 1 of them? He said, I don't even know the man. And so he got off that boat pretty quick. The pressure has a way of doing it. So if we don't keep vows, what good are they? What good are vows10:24 if we don't keep them? Let me give you 2 reasons. 1 is vows create focus. When you make a vow, it means you 0 in. Lord, I'm going to do this. And it means you suddenly began to focus on that. And10:36 so if you made vows today and God brings them to your mind of things you promised, today ought to be a day you say, I'm gonna go ahead and focus in and I'm gonna handle that so I can get clarity in my life and I can get10:47 peace and I can move forward. The 2nd thing vows do is they create or they declare our love. A vow will openly declare your love. You know when you get married, you stand there and say for better, for worse, for richer.10:58 You're making a vow to the world. Now I don't know about everybody. I I have what's considered a high view of marriage. I I believe you ought to think before you get married, you ought to have a high view that11:10 marriage shouldn't be as easy as deciding where we're gonna eat. It ought to be 1 of those things we said before I say I do, I'm gonna figure out what I'm doing and I'm gonna think that through. And so we need to have11:21 your marriage. Some people toss away a marriage if somebody does 1 thing they don't like. And and and I'm telling you, marriage to us is really a symbol of how we are to God. The Bible tells us that marriage ought11:33 to be like our relationship with God. And it ought to be that we commit ourselves to and we stick to. And I can say this in all honesty. I've been married over 40 years. Been a great marriage, wonderful marriage. I have11:43 never 1 single 2nd thought of or even used the word, but never thought of divorce. Not 1 time. Now it doesn't mean it's been a perfect marriage. We've had conflicts at11:55 times and disagreements, and we're 2 headstrong people that many times, you you know, we have looked at each other and said, I'm not moving. I'm not moving. And it took a while. But we've never thought about divorce. Now12:05 we've thought about murder a few times. There have been sometimes I know she's thought about it. And and so what I'm saying is don't don't bring that up. Don't go that way. Don't12:17 let that even be an option for you if at all possible. Try to hang in there as long as you can and live through and make that marriage work. And so vows we make, we we make a12:29 vow when we do baby dedications. I used to love those. I I had the privilege of holding these little bitty babies and, gosh, you know, you wanna talk about age now, but I feel so grateful.12:40 There's hardly a person up here singing today that I didn't hold in my arms right here 1 day and held them out and said, let's pray and bless them and aren't they cute? I couldn't pick12:52 them up today, but but I look at them up on that stage. And at this stage of my life, I'm going, wow. It's so fulfilling to say you stayed on the track and didn't do13:04 what a lot of people did, checked out, quit, you know, jumped off or did something foolish. But to be able to look and see a lot of folks doing that and living for God that you say, 1 time I held him in my hands and I13:15 knew what that was like. But we made a promise. Their parents made a promise. They said, we promised to raise this child in the teaching and the instruction of Jesus Christ and buy them up here worshiping. I'm saying13:26 those parents kept those promises, and look what they've done to them. Those are fulfilling moments. And so vows, we ought to make, and they're good for us in that way. So Nehemiah is gonna say there's 4 vows I want13:38 you to make. Alright. Let's jump in. Okay? Number 1 is in verse 28. In verse 28, he says, let's make a vow to follow God's word. And he told the people, let's make a vow. The 1st way to13:50 stay on track, to anchor down, you know, in a world that is shifting and a culture that is anti God, let's make a vow to follow God's word. And so he says in verse 28, now the rest of the14:01 people, priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all those that separated themselves from the people of the land to the law of God, are joining with their kinsmen, nobles, and are taking on themselves14:13 a curse and an oath to walk in God's law that was given through Moses, God's servant, to keep and observe all the commandments of our Lord and his ordinances and14:25 his statues. And he said, we all signed on. They said, we we're gonna sign on every 1 of us, and we're gonna join with everybody else, and we're making a covenant that we are going to walk in the14:37 in God's law. We we're gonna live out his word. I wanna tell you 1 of the greatest ways to get peace in your life. 1 of the fastest ways to anchor down, to be relaxed in spirit, not worried about everything else is14:49 to know that you are anchored in this book. It that there there's a there used to be a television show called, who wants to be a millionaire. And there was a guy named Regis Phil, and I always liked Regis. And and and15:01 Regis would ask these questions when they'd ask, you know, something, you could ask the audience, you could call a friend, and and so those are the kind of or you could ask, you know, some others, but he he would always15:12 make this question. When they would answer, he'd say, is that your final answer? And then he would give the declaration whether it was good or bad. I always love that. Is that your final answer? And and I15:24 wanna ask you something. I believe this in all of our lives, there's what we call a final authority. A final authority, every human being has it. I don't care who they are. Everybody has a final authority. You have 1. I15:35 have 1. The person sitting around you, they have 1 too. They may have not have ever clarified it, but let's do it for a 2nd. Who is your final authority? What is it that makes you say, I know this is the15:47 way I'm gonna go? Is it is it the culture? If the culture says, you know, do this, we say, I gotta do what they do. I don't wanna be out. I don't wanna be neglected. I certainly wanna fit in. I don't wanna be rejected,15:58 so I'll just do what the culture says. Is it the voice of someone in your life that you say, whatever they tell me to do, that's what I do? Is it your own voice? Is it you that says in yourself,Vow 2: Be Distinctive in the World 16:10 until I feel this, think this or whatever, I'm gonna do that? What what is your final authority? Is it the word of God? I made mine the word of God years ago and I have never16:21 regretted that. Now, I'll I'll tell you how I came. I was in a class 1 time in school and there was a, as a professor that basically was giving out assignments before we could all graduate. You had to write a thesis on16:33 it. And he looked at me. Now he picked my assignment and I thought he was picking on me. I'd, you know, I'd been saved just a short while. He says, Bill, I want you to write a16:45 50000 word thesis on the inerrancy of the Bible, and that was mine. Other people got different assignments. Now 50000 words in a day that you do not have16:56 computers, in a day that you don't have even an old corona typewriter and you're pecking it finger by finger. 50000 words, it's it's about as thick as an Atlanta phone book. It took me 6 months night and17:08 day to do that, not only and that was just put it together without all the study. And I and I dreaded I hate every day I would say, you know, other students come in, we pass, we've got our our thesis. I didn't.17:20 I was still working at it. But I'll tell you what it did that I look back and I'm so grateful for. It helped me to learn why this Bible is true. I learned why the greatest minds that17:32 have ever existed believe this book. I learned why people would die for their faith. I learned why people would never wince no matter what the persecution or pressure because they knew what the Bible said.17:44 And I look back now and what I thought was being a mean assignment turned out to be the best 1 I could have ever gotten. It kept me who would have been distracted and got off track a long time ago. It kept me rooted and17:55 anchored in the right direction. I wanna ask you a question. In your life, before you make a decision, what's your final authority? You wanna say, I whatever God says, we're gonna do. As for me and my18:07 house, we're gonna serve God. I walked by a staff office 1 time and there was a counselor here. There was an argument going on and and you could hear it out through the door. And,18:19 and after it was over and there was a lady kinda just yelling at our counselor. And and so when it was over with, I I had come back through and I saw him, and I said, that was a while, well, today, wasn't he? He said,18:30 pastor, he said, I asked 1 question. He said, if she'd had a gun, she'd have shot me. And I said, what was the question? I thought it was gonna be offensive. I thought it was gonna be something really deep and personal.18:41 You know what his question was? He said, before we go any further, just 1 question I wanna ask you as we try to build this marriage. What does God want us to do?18:53 He said that lady flipped out, jumped up in her seat, said, I don't care what God wants. It don't matter what God wants. This is what I want. And she just went off on him. Now19:05 she's telling you why she's so angry. She's telling you why there's no peace. She's telling you why she's out of control because she wants what she wants instead of what does God want. You'll never get peace till19:17 you do what God wants. And so I encourage you even in the times now that are changing and the culture that is different is to say, I'm gonna follow the Lord. Everybody else may be trying to figure out which way they're19:28 going. I know where I'm going. I know exactly. I didn't found it. It's like I've shared before about the 2 guys playing guitar and and 1 of them is just playing like this. He's old man. He's just going dong,19:40 dong, dong. And these kids are looking at him, and there's another guy. He's all over that guitar. I mean, he's, got the neck of it and down. I mean, he he is unbelievable. And they look at the old man,19:51 they say, don't you feel foolish? I mean, you gotta feel foolish. You're over here just going dong dong dong and he's over there playing all up the neck of that guitar. The old man says, no. I don't feel foolish. He's20:02 looking for it and I done found it. Well, that's what it when it comes to your faith, while others are looking in this word is where you'll find it. So I encourage you, young, old,20:14 middle aged, married, single, I encourage you to do something. Do exactly what Nehemiah said when he said, let's make a commitment that we will follow God's word. Let me give you the 2nd thing. The 2nd20:26 vow is found in the next verse. In verse 30, he says, I want you to vow to be distinctive in the world. To be distinctive. Now distinctive means it means to be separate, to be different.20:38 Something about us. Now I don't mean by that that you're supposed to necessarily dress different. I I wanna dress as good as any culture. I wanna be a part of it. All I'm not saying that. I'm not saying you can't20:50 dress or drive or whatever. I'm not saying you don't know their lingo. You don't you don't need to look like a kook or a weirdo or a nut or a flake. Okay? You you you you can fit in thisVows 3 & 4: Lord's Day and Finances 21:02 world and stay updated and be current. I think pastor Brent does a great job. He knows all the songs and all the culture, and yet he has a way if you're not careful. He uses that as a tool to be21:13 able to go in and connect the spiritual truth. It's a beautiful way to connect. So we ought to be distinctive and different. And to be that, he says in verse 30, and he goes a little further here when he talks about it.21:24 He said, part of our vow is that we will not give our daughters to the people of the land or take their daughters for our sons. Now here's what he's doing. He's21:35 saying, we don't want you to marry into another faith. And Nehemiah is saying, I want you if you serve and honor Jehovah God, don't marry21:47 outside of your faith. He say he never says anything about about racial marriage. He doesn't say 1 thing. You you can marry any across the racial lines. That you we're all God's creation. He21:59 doesn't say anything about social, economic. It doesn't matter about whether educated or none of that does God say you can't do. We're his creation, but he says don't marry outside of your faith. Later22:11 on in chapter 13, he'll tell you why. He will say, just like the wisest man in the world, Solomon, had had had had it all, the favor of God. But you know what Solomon's problem22:23 was? Solomon allowed all these women of other religions to be a part of his life, and he married them. And then they would say, well, we wanna worship our God, and22:35 Solomon would give in. You know, he wanna make mama happy, so he gave in, and he'd let him build an altar to a foreign god. And Solomon lost his anointing. He lost his blessing.22:46 He lost the presence of God because Solomon went outside his faith by breaking that command. Nehemiah is saying don't marry outside your faith. 1st question you ought to have when somebody22:58 says your daughter comes home, son comes home, I love them, I wanna date them, I wanna marry them. You ought to say, do they know God? And and and and if they don't, then wait till they do before they say I do. The key23:10 is is you wanna stay in it. If you don't do that, you you talk to some couples that have been married outside their faith and they'll tell you how challenging it has been. They want to serve God, they want to23:21 live for God, but they've got someone they're yoked to that is not on the same path. That's why the Bible talks about don't be unequally yoked. You know what he means by that? They would23:33 take oxen and he said, you got this big strong ox and you've got this little weak ox and you put them together, what happens is that big strong ox will pull the23:45 direction he decides. And and if he does, he can walk in circles and the other 1 can never keep him on a straight line. They don't help 1 another. And so we ought to stay equally yoked and the 1 way we do it is23:56 spiritually being connected and and Nehemiah knew it. He's saying, I want us to do this. Be distinctive from the world. Now when I say distinctive, I I I mean this along that line. It it should be clear to the24:08 people around you that we're Christians. I mean, the world ought to know that we're Christians. They ought to be clear about that. When when they see you, they should now how do you do that? There24:20 are ways people do it that they think they're telling the world they're Christians and I don't I don't recommend it. When I 1st became a Christian, they had, they had these things called and they've got a few now, but24:32 they're almost out of business called Bible bookstores. We have a member here who actually had 1. And, and and I remember when I 1st got saved, I don't know. It's just my way of thinking. I was so excited because I24:44 realized we had a Bible. I went to a Bible bookstore. Somebody told me where to go to get 1. And you know what I was looking for? I wasn't looking for King James or Living Bible or nothing like that. I was just as24:53 foolish. Nobody got me. I was looking for the biggest Bible in the store. I went in. I wanted to know where's the biggest 1. And they were saying, well, you want the King James or Living Bible? Which 1 is the biggest?25:05 Somehow, I thought the bigger the Bible, the bigger my faith. I thought the bigger the Bible, if I went out with that, it'd be telling the world. So I walked out of there with a Bible that was about a foot tall and about25:14 a foot and 0.5 wide. I mean, you can read it in the back row back there. I'd open it up here. You can see it there. And then I it was I have suitcases smaller than my bible. And and and and I thought that's gonna be25:26 my witness. And and then I learned something. It was good if I went to church, but but if I walked out the door and went anywhere else and took my bible, it scared people off. It's like somebody walking down your street25:37 with a AK 47. Everybody runs. And so I realized it wasn't the size of my Bible that was gonna make the difference. Now I know people today, you know, the bad things. We have people today that they get on25:49 the Internet, they get on a cause or a or a a an issue, they ride something and they they post on the Internet their faith, and they're always angry. And and, you know, it's funny. They they26:01 think they're winning the world when they're when they're just making Christians have a harder job to win the world. Don't don't take out all your issues and judge people. In fact, you know, when you judge people, you're26:12 revealing more about yourself than you are about them. And so it's not my job to judge them. But if you take the if you if you take the Internet and you just decide to post and I know some dear friends that, bless their26:23 heart, they don't have enough courage to witness to a waitress. But you put them behind a keyboard, they will let the world know their beliefs. I call it keyboard courage. They see a lot of26:35 things behind a keyboard that never say to somebody's face. And so that's their way. That's not how God does it. You know how we ought to witness? The Bible says this, we're known by our love. That's what26:47 sets us apart. Last night when I was talking with Helena for a moment, I said, now what's it like in the place you are? She said, well, 1st of all, Bill, I'm a woman. I'm a single woman. She said, so I have to be among26:58 people that any moment I could be kidnapped, raped, or killed. She said, that's every day. She said, I can't walk 100 feet without having to look over my shoulders or be close by a place of safety. She27:10 said, that's what it's like. And I said, do do you, how do you respond? And she quickly just validated. She said, Bill, I respond in love. She said, I will see sometimes27:21 even people that are terrorists that hate my guts. And she said, if I have an opportunity to help them and it's safe, she said, I do. She said, we have a little clinic there that we give medical care to. You won't27:33 believe the people that hate us, but when they get sick, they may come to us because we're the only answer. She said, when they come, we show them the love of Jesus. And she said, and we've had some real impact in27:45 that. She said, my parents want me to come back and get out of that because I'm too young. They don't want me die to die there. She said, what better way to die, to die for God? And I'm listening to this lady saying,27:57 wow. You make me feel like my faith is that big. I mean, you make me just feel like, wow. I wish I could get a do over, somebody that loves God at that level, but she's got it. That's how you do it. You show the28:09 world by your love. By the way, Christmas is coming up. What better time to show the love of God to other people than this time? You maybe their hearts will be a little more open and you'll have an opportunity, and I28:20 encourage you. Look for opportunities to show the love of God. You say, well, how do I witness? You know, do I go up to people and take the bible and start going verse by verse and and, you know, show them that? No. No.28:32 No. That that's that's not the best way. The best way is this. You just show them the love of God. Wherever you are, you show the love of God. If you'll do that, God will help you to do28:44 anything else you need as you want. God God always equips the willing, and so just be willing to do that. Now the 3rd vow they're gonna give is this. They're gonna give a vow now that we're gonna keep the lord's day.28:56 Verse 31, he says this, as for the people of the land who bring wares of grain on the Sabbath day to sail, we will not buy from them on a Sabbath or a holy day. We will not we will forego the crops of the 7th year and29:06 the exaction of every debt. And here's what's cool he's saying. We're gonna set 1 day a week aside, then we're gonna worship God. We're gonna be distinct from the other religions and that 1 day we're gonna publicly and29:18 and and as a community come together and we're gonna honor our God. And so they were saying, we don't wanna be distracted with work that day. We want that to be a day of worship. So he said that'll be our our commitment.29:31 It's also saying, we also will be declaring to the world when other nations look, they'll say there's a testimony. Those people, that little ragtag group of Jewish believers, that rebuilt29:42 that wall. They haven't forgot what God's done and how God's delivered them. And they're gonna meet regularly and weekly and do that. And and and that means you come back to the place where God's blessed you. I,29:55 I've been blessed. Some of you know this story, had a prayer pole out here. When I got saved, that was the actual pole I clung to. But what what I did that was never known for 30 years, it was the most special secretShow more In this video 0:00 The Power of Vows to God9:00 Vow 1: Follow God's Word16:00 Vow 2: Be Distinctive in the World21:00 Vows 3 & 4: Lord's Day and Finances30:00 God's Unfailing Promises
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